'He is playing with freedom': Shubman Gill on Virat Kohli's new approach

Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli (PTI Photo)

India captain Shubman Gill believes the best way to get the most out of Virat Kohli is to simply let the star batter be himself.Kohli smashed an unbeaten 139 off 88 balls as India beat West Indies by eight wickets in the first ODI at the Greenfield International Stadium on Sunday.

Gill also scored 110 as the two shared a 151-run partnership.

India chased down 296 with 50 balls to spare and took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. Kohli also completed 15,000 ODI runs during his knock.

'Virat Kohli playing with freedom'

Gill said Kohli is enjoying his cricket and making the most of his ability to hit boundaries."Honestly when I got out, I thought I should have finished the game. But it was a satisfying innings for me. He's batting superbly and I think he's enjoying the game a lot more, playing with freedom, those are the facts of his batting and he always had the game, the ability to clear the boundary at will, he's doing that right now."Someone like him, who's won so many games for India, you let him be and on the day he will win the matches for you," said Gill in the post-match presentation ceremony on Sunday.Gill was dismissed after scoring his seventh ODI century, but Kohli stayed till the end to finish the chase.

Gill praises Kuldeep's comeback

Gill also praised Kuldeep Yadav for changing the game after West Indies made a strong start."Someone like Kuldeep, especially in the middle overs if he is bowling well, he is a wicket-taker.

We were on the backfoot with their opening partnership, he got us back in the game, at one point it looked like keeping them to 300 was great."West Indies openers Justin Greaves and John Campbell had put together 135 runs before Kuldeep finished with 4-40.Gill also said India wanted more depth in their batting line-up."Ideally, yes, we would like an eighth batting option: someone who can contribute at least 20-30 runs. We weren't able to get the scores we wanted, but we are open to trying different combinations to see what works for us," he said.